Hot chocolate bombs explode onto the Christmas scene with flavours like candy cane and salted caramel

You've heard of bath bombs, the fizzing spheres that dissolve into your bathwater.

But this year, bath bombs are making way for a new, easy holiday gift — hot chocolate bombs.

These are also large spheres that dissolve in a fizz. The chocolate spheres are filled with marshmallows and cocoa, and to enjoy, you just have to pour hot liquid over them and watch the magic happen.

Stephanie Henry, owner of For Sweet Sakes bakery in Chestermere, went into production earlier this month and says her staff are working around the clock to produce enough delicious bombs to fulfil this new Calgary craze.

"It's been a whirlwind for sure.It's been go, go, go pretty much 24-7 right now, these things are so popular," Henry told the Calgary Eyeopener.

"I have four staff working right now. We have two kitchens going. Things are crazy."

Henry said her signature bomb is bright pink with white chocolate and marshmallows. Other popular flavours include milk chocolate, Oreo cookie, salted caramel and candy cane.

Baking trends

Henry got the idea from keeping up with bakery trends in the U.S., where the bombs are currently popular.

"I also offer cakes and cookies through my company as well, so I saw them in a couple of social media groups," she said. "And they were so interesting to me. I thought they were so cool. They looked like so much fun.

"And I really think the craze is just because they're such a small thing, but they're so much fun. Like, they bring a small piece of joy to someone's day."

The chocolate bombs are not the easiest thing to whip up, Henry said. 

"They are complicated to make. It seems like it's a very simple process and you just need a mould and some chocolate, but that's the kicker — you need the chocolate and … it's fragile for sure. It can break. It can crack," she said.

"You need to make sure you have the perfect seam and [the] two halves of the mould go together perfectly … So, there's definitely some technique to it."

Henry said the current plan is to make between 400 and 500 spheres a day, and 10,000 before Christmas.

"It's pretty much go, go, go at all times," she said. "But, you know, I have everyone in my family helping me out."

Henry is getting requests from as far away as Australia and the United Kingdom.

"Honestly, we're more worried about our locals here, we're trying to take care of you guys first," she said. "We've had tons of orders from Calgary. And obviously Chestermere has been great to me and my business. So we're very grateful for that."

Henry said the hot chocolate bombs can be stored for up to two months in a sealed container.